In the beverage industry, a filling line includes, for example, a plurality of container treatment devices which are interconnected by transporters on which containers are transported between the container treatment devices. Such transport sections typically consist of a row of consecutive partial sections in which containers may be accelerated, buffered, singulated or split from a single-track to a multi-track section. To ensure a perfect and efficient transport of the containers on the transport section, the transport section is normally monitored by sensors.
FIG. 1 schematically shows a transport section between two container treatment devices A and B with the partial sections S1, S2, S3, and S4. The speeds of the partial sections S1, S2, S3 and S4 may be individually controlled by associated motors M1, M2, M3, and M4. On sections S1 and S2, for example, the container flow may be decelerated. The partial section S3 functions as a buffer section in which the container flow may be backed up, for example to buffer faults. On partial section S4, the parallel container flow from partial section S3 is singulated again and supplied to the container treatment device B. With sensors 1, 2, 3, and 4, the loading of the partial sections S1, S2, S3, and S4 is detected and fed to a computer unit 5. The computer unit 5 then evaluates the sensor data and controls the speeds of the partial sections S1, S2, S3, and S4 via motors M1, M2, M3, and M4.
Such monitoring and controlling of a transporter is described, for example, in EP-A-0071955. This prior art discloses a method for continuously controlling the transport speed of transporters. EP-A-0071955 suggests a sensor for each partial section which detects the number of bottles and their geometric distribution to realize a bottle tracking method which is used for controlling the transport speed of the transporter such that a high throughput is achieved with minimal back pressures.
A similar example is shown in EP-A-0066119.
EP-A-0190090 describes a device for orienting containers without pressure, wherein containers on a multi-track conveyor path are introduced into a single-track conveyor path. Two sensors are used for controlling the speed of the conveyor paths. A first sensor detects the container loading on the multi-track conveyor path by means of a camera, and a second sensor detects the container loading on the single-track path.
With the methods known from prior art for monitoring and controlling a loading rate of a transport section, the containers may only be tracked with a plurality of sensors. For example, EP-A-0071955 and EP-A-0066119 use four or more sensors. A further disadvantage of said prior art is that the status between the sensors is not detected, and thus a representation of the overall loading of a conveyor path in real time is not possible. Moreover, the great number of sensors involve high amounts of material for the sensors themselves and the corresponding cabling, i. e. the required connections to a central computer or a central control unit, thereby moreover increasing error-proneness. In the prior art document EP-A-0190090 where two sensors are used, one sensor at the start of the transport section and one sensor at the end of the transport section, no container tracking is provided nor even possible. In this prior art, a representation of the loading on the complete transport section in real time is neither possible.